Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "E-government is critical to the government's ability to effectively communicate with the public. Both Congress and current and past administrations have emphasized the importance of e-government and have put forth proposals to address the challenges associated with this issue. Earlier this year, the Senate passed S. 803, the E-government Act of 2002. To accomplish the goal of enhancing the management and promotion of e-government, S. 803 addresses many of the substantive information resource and management challenges facing the government today. Initiatives contained in this bill represent important steps in creating a government that is more efficient, effective, and focused on citizens' needs. Specifically, the bill would (1) secure the transmission of sensitive information in e-government transactions by promoting the development of electronic signatures, (2) protect individuals' privacy by requiring agencies to conduct privacy impact assessments, and (3) make government information more accessible to the public."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In recent years, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's (WMATA) public transit system has experienced safety and reliability problems, including equipment breakdowns, delays in scheduled service, unprecedented crowding on trains, and accidents and tunnel fires. WMATA is examining ways to ease crowding on the systems rail cars and determining whether and how to expand Metrorail maintenance and repair shop capacity as WMATA acquires nearly 200 new rail cars. WMATA has also undertaken a comprehensive program for infrastructure renewal, and it is now studying improvements or modifications to accommodate the goal of doubling ridership by the year 2025. WMATA's safety program has evolved since the mid-1990s, when a series of accidents and incidents led to several independent reviews citing the need for program improvements. WMATA monitors safety and crime statistics and has several ongoing targeted efforts to reduce safety incidents and deter crime on its transit systems. WMATA has adopted several of the best capital investment practices used by leading public and private sector organizations, but it could benefit by establishing a more formal, disciplined framework for its capital decision-making process. WMATA has used a wide variety of innovative …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "By the year 2006, the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) projects it will lose a significant portion of its mission-critical workforce to retirement. Since fiscal year 1998, VBA has hired over 2,000 new employees to begin to fill this expected gap. GAO was asked to review, with particular attention for new employees, (1) the attrition rate at VBA and the soundness of its methods for calculating attrition and (2) whether VBA has adequate data to effectively analyze the reasons for attrition. To answer these questions, we obtained and analyzed attrition data from VBA's Office of Human Resources, calculated attrition rates for VBA and other federal agencies using a government-wide database on federal employment, and interviewed VBA officials about their efforts to measure attrition and determine why new employees leave."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Department of Defense's (DOD) payment problems and how recovery auditing is being used to identify and recover overpayments."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Jenkins Act requires any person who sells and ships cigarettes across a state line to a buyer, other than a licensed distributor, to report the sale to the buyer's state tobacco tax administrator. The act establishes misdemeanor penalties for violating the act. Compliance with this federal law by cigarette sellers enables states to collect cigarette excise taxes from consumers. However, some state and federal officials are concerned that as Internet cigarette sales continue to grow, particularly as states' cigarette taxes increase, so will the amount of lost state tax revenue due to noncompliance with the Jenkins Act. One research firm estimated that Internet tobacco sales in the United States will exceed $5 billion in 2005 and that the states will lose about $1.4 billion in tax revenue from these sales."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "E-government refers to operations that enhance delivery of government information and services. Enterprise architectures provides for successful delivery of e-government applications, which in turn promise improved government performance and accountability. Under the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) leadership, the president's fiscal year 2003 budget proposes 24 e-government initiatives, most involving multiple agencies. These initiatives have laudable goals, including the elimination of redundant, nonintegrated business operations and systems which could save billions of dollars. The success of these initiatives depends in large part on whether they are pursued within the context of enterprise architectures. Approved architectures for most of these initiatives do not currently exist. OMB has been a proponent of enterprise architectures and has recently devoted increased attention to them. However, it can and should play a larger role. The maturity framework and benchmark data about 116 departments, component agencies, and independent agencies GAO reviews in this testimony provide important baseline information against which targeted improvement across the government can be defined and measured."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed matters related to deceptive mail marketing practices, focusing on the extent and nature of consumers' problems with deceptive mail and the initiatives various federal agencies and other organizations have made to address deceptive mail problems and educate consumers."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed: (1) the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) claims history for tribal self-determination contracts for fiscal years 1997 through 1999; and (2) FTCA coverage issues that are unique to tribal contractors."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the usage of the social security number (SSN), focusing on: (1) federal laws and regulations directing the number's use; (2) the non-federal purposes for which the number is used; and (3) what businesses and state governments believe the impact would be if federal laws limiting the use of SSNs were passed."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) faces major challenges that collectively call for a structural transformation if it is to remain viable in the 21st century. This testimony discusses USPS' current financial outlook, actions that USPS has taken or planned to take, and the transformation issues that will need to be addressed. GAO concludes that structural transformation is essential if USPS is to overcome its financial, operational, and human capital challenges. It is at a growing risk of being unable to continue providing universal postal service at reasonable rates while remaining self-supporting through postal revenues. Although USPS has announced steps to address its mounting problems, it lacks a comprehensive plan to address its various financial, operational, or human capital challenges. USPS needs to develop a transformation plan in conjunction with Congress and other stakeholders that would address the key transformation issues facing USPS."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Department of Health and Human Services' Independent Living Program (ILP) and the needs of youths leaving the foster care system, focusing on: (1) the problems faced by foster care youths once they leave care; (2) what is known about the extent of services provided by ILP; and (3) what is known about the effectiveness of ILP."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the challenges of developing effective information sharing and coordination strategies needed to deal with computer security threats."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Government Pension Offset (GPO) exemption was enacted in 1977 to equalize the treatment of workers covered by Social Security and those with government pensions not covered by Social Security. Congress asked GAO to (1) assess the extent to which individuals retiring from jobs not covered by Social Security may be transferring briefly to covered jobs in order to avoid the GPO, and (2) estimate the impact of such transfers on the Social Security Trust Fund."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses lessons learned from the Department of Defense's (DOD) TRICARE contracts and their implications for the future. TRICARE's successes and maturity reflect the ability of the DOD and its contractors to work within the current contract structure. However, it has not been easy, and there are important lessons from current contract shortcomings that need to be addressed in designing future TRICARE contracts. Most, including DOD, believe that the current contracts are too large, complex, and prescriptive in nature, limiting innovation and competition. Also, numerous adjustments to these contracts have created an unstable program, and program costs have been difficult to predict, contributing to annual funding shortfalls. Additionally, financial incentives, accountability, and data quality need to be strengthened to achieve greater efficiencies. To address these weaknesses, DOD redesigned its solicitation for the next round of TRICARE contracts; however, the initial issuance was withdrawn because of internal concerns and reservations about its costs and specifications. DOD is now reassessing how to structure the TRICARE contracts and is considering the views and recommendations of the Defense Medical Oversight Committee, a group formed to oversee TRICARE."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Medicaid program served 33.4 million low-income families as well as elderly, blind, and disabled persons at a cost of $119 billion to the federal government and $88 billion to the states in fiscal year 2000. States are responsible for safeguarding Medicaid funds by making proper payments to providers, recovering misspent funds, and accurately reporting costs for federal reimbursement. At the federal level, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is responsible for overseeing state financial activities and ensuring the propriety of expenditures reported for federal reimbursement. Audits of state Medicaid finances have identified millions of dollars of questionable or unallowable costs. In addition, annual financial statement audits have identified many internal control weaknesses in CMS oversight of state Medicaid operations. CMS has only recently begun to assess areas at greatest risk for improper payments. As a result, controls that focus on the highest risk areas and resources had not yet been deployed for areas of greatest risk. Since 1998, auditors have noted that CMS failed to institute an oversight process that effectively reduced the risk of inappropriate medical claims and payments. CMS attributed most of the …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "DOD faces growing challenges in carrying out realistic training at installations and training ranges--land, air, and sea--because of encroachment by outside factors. These include urban growth, competition for radio frequencies or airspace, air or noise pollution, unexploded ordnance and munition components, endangered species habitat, and protected marine resources. Building on work reported on in 2002, GAO assessed (1) the impact of encroachment on training ranges, (2) DOD's efforts to document the effect on readiness and cost, and (3) DOD's progress in addressing encroachment."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) lacks management control of the Standard Procurement System (SPS). DOD has not (1) ensured that accountability and responsibility for measuring progress against commitments are clearly understood, performed, and reported; (2) demonstrated, on the basis of reliable data and credible analysis, that the proposed system solution will produce economic benefits commensurate with costs; (3) used data on progress against project cost, schedule, and performance commitments throughout a project's life cycle to make investment decisions; and (4) divided this large project into a series of incremental investment decisions to spread the risks over smaller, more manageable components. GAO found that DOD lacks the basic information needed to make informed decisions on how to proceed with the project. Nevertheless, DOD continues to push forward in acquiring and deploying additional versions of SPS. This testimony summarizes a July report (GAO-01-682)."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "During World War I, the U.S. Army operated a large research facility to develop and test chemical weapons and explosives in the area that became the Spring Valley neighborhood in Washington, D.C. Buried ordnance, discovered there in 1993, led to the designation by the Department of Defense (DOD) of 61 acres as a formerly used defense site. Through fiscal year 2001, DOD had spent over $50 million to identify and remove hazards at the site. The government entities involved have identified and removed a large number of hazards, but the number remaining is unknown. The health risks influencing cleanup activities at Spring Valley are the possibility of injury or death from exploding or leaking ordnance and containers of chemical warfare agents and potential long-term health problems from exposure to arsenic-contaminated soil. As of April 2002, the U.S. Army estimated that the remaining cleanup activities would cost $7.1 million and take 5 years, but these estimates are unreliable. This testimony summarized a June report (See GAO-02-556)."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress established an Indian trust fund account reconciliation requirement in 1987 in response to tribes' concerns that the Department of the Interior had not consistently provided them with statements on their account balances, their trust fund accounts had never been reconciled, and Interior planned to contract with a third party to manage the accounts. Congress required that the accounts be audited and reconciled before the Bureau of Indian Affairs transferred funds to a third party. Interior's fiscal year 1990 appropriations act added a requirement that the accounts be reconciled to the earliest possible date and that Interior obtain an independent certification of the reconciliation work. The American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act of 1994 required Interior to provide tribes with reconciled account statements as of September 30, 1995. To fulfill these requirements, Interior contracted with two major independent public accounting firms, one to reconcile the trust accounts and the other to do an independent certification of the reconciliation. When Interior's reconciliation project was completed in January 1996, each tribe was provided a report that included unreconciled account statements with schedules of proposed adjustments based on results for …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its work analyzing the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) 10-year business plan, focusing on: (1) whether the plan objectives address the key issues confronting TVA; (2) major costs that were not included in the plan; (3) whether the goals and assumptions in the plan are achievable or reasonable; and (4) TVA's plans to formally update the plan for significant changes."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Small Business Administration's (SBA) efforts to identify its current and future workforce needs, budget for them and manage them strategically."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony is based on a GAO report (GAO-02-156) that analyzed key characteristics of women and men in management positions, identified the representation of women in management positions in specific industries, and identified salary differences between men and women in full-time management jobs. Female managers in the 10 industries GAO examined were younger, less educated, were more likely to work part-time, and were less likely to be married than were male managers. In five of these industries, GAO found no statistically significant differences between the percent of industry positions filled by women and the percent of management positions filled by women. In four of the industries, women were less represented in management positions. In one of these industries, women were represented in management positions to a greater degree than they were in all positions in the industry. Full-time female managers earned less than full-time male managers in all 10 industries, after controlling for education, age, marital status, and race. GAO was unable to take years of experience into account."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the role of chief information officers (CIO) in the federal government."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Federal housing assistance in rural America dates back to the 1930s, when most rural residents worked on farms. Without electricity, telephone service, or good roads connecting residents to population centers, residents were comparatively isolated and their access to credit was generally poor. These conditions led Congress to authorize separate housing assistance for rural residents, to be administered by USDA. Over time, the quality of the housing stock has improved and credit has become more readily available in rural areas. Also, advances in transportation, computer technology, and telecommunications have diminished many of the distinctions between rural and urban areas. These changes call into question whether rural housing programs still need to be maintained separately from urban housing programs, and whether RHS is adapting to change and managing its resources as efficiently as possible."